Month: October 2020

When MLS players arrived in Orlando for the MLS Is Back bubble tournament, they did so at the same time as mass protests were erupting around the country against police violence, particularly towards the Black community. As players from across the league came together in one place, they also came together in calling for social change, as the league’s Black players formed the Black Players for Change coalition which staged a demonstration prior to the first game of the season and has led the charge within MLS to address issues of racism and representation in soccer.

On Monday, the league announced that through conversations with BPC and top stakeholders from around the league they had come up with a multi-point plan of action to address those issues through programs, initiatives, and funding. Among the initiatives from MLS include forming a Diversity Committee that will look to include people from all levels of organizations, from ownership to players to staff of clubs and academies, to create strategy for diversity and inclusion at every level of operation.

They will also look to three specific areas with their Civic Engagement, Soccer Upward Mobility, and Youth And Grassroots Community Initiatives, all of which will receive league funding to encourage community activism, providing access and exposure to increase Black representation at all levels of the club structure, and provide more opportunities for underrepresented groups at the youth and grassroots levels, for players, coaches, and referees.

The league will also partner with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and 100 Black Men of America to provide funding to both programs as well as work with them to develop “long-term programming” in communities around the country. The league also pledged to partner with more minority-owned businesses through their Supplier Diversity Program to bring more opportunity at both a league and club level for partnerships.

MLS will also provide $1 million to Black Players for Change to allow them to continue growing their organization. All in all, it’s a strong initial plan that seems to be working in conjunction with players and staffers to address the issues they see as most prevalent and pressing both within communities and within the league itself.

Two years ago, Kurt Russell burst onto Netflix as a cooler, more rowdy version of Santa that gave a lot of folks some very intense feelings about Kris Kringle in The Christmas Chronicles. Well, now, Russell’s hot Santa is back in a sequel to the family friendly movie, and this time, he brought Mrs. Claus along for the ride.

Arriving just in time for the holidays, The Christmas Chronicles 2 picks up after the events of the first film, but this time the stakes are much higher. Judging by the new trailer, Hunky Santa will be doing more than just boosting a muscle car. He hunts snow leopards in the North Pole, busts out an even bigger musical number (while wearing shades!), and battles an evil elf who’s wielding some sort of Christmas Infinity Gauntlet? Let’s just say Santa is going big with this one and looking like a bearded snack while doing it.

Here’s the official synopsis:

It’s been two years since siblings Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis) saved Christmas, and a lot has changed. Kate, now a cynical teenager, is reluctantly spending Christmas in Cancun with her mom’s new boyfriend and his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). Unwilling to accept this new version of her family, Kate decides to run away. But when a mysterious, magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to destroy the North Pole and end Christmas for good, Kate and Jack are unexpectedly pulled into a new adventure with Santa Claus (Kurt Russell). Written and directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter) and co-starring Goldie Hawn, THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2 is an action-packed adventure for the whole family that’s full of heart, humor, and holiday spirit.

The Christmas Chronicles 2 sleds into Netflix on November 25.

(Via Netflix)

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

At this point, there’s little reason to rehash the prolificacy of Buffalo, New York-based indie rap label Griselda Records. It’s like rain in November or snow in January or fires in California. It just is. But there has been one aspect of their extreme efficiency that’s been a concern for some observers. While their fans rave about the group’s authenticity, their lyrical complexity, and the cohesion of their presentation from the top-down, detractors have pointed out that the similarity of their releases so far can make them sound one-note.

Since they signed their distribution deal with Shady Records, those critiques have become even more pointed; how can you expect to capitalize on the newfound mainstream exposure that comes from association with Eminem without making at least a small overture toward mainstream tastes? Even in 2020, they’ve stuck to their gun ad-libs, continuing to tap in-house producer Daringer and longtime collaborators like The Alchemist for muted soul loops, 1950s horror organs, and muffled drums, becoming something of a meme in the process.

However, the capstone on Griselda’s already outstanding 2020 is Benny The Butcher’s masterful Burden Of Proof and as it turns out, they’ve saved the best for last. Like Marvel crowning its initial run of superhero successes with The Avengers in 2012, Burden Of Proof doesn’t so much signal a course correction as a tide change, a shifting of the paradigm surrounding not only Griselda’s gritty sounds but also the waning East Coast gangsta rap genre as a whole.

That isn’t to say that the scene has been on life support or anything. In addition to the Griselda Records constellation of releases this year — beginning with Conway’s Lulu and From King To A God and including no less than three Westside Gunn projects and Armani Caesar’s eye-opening debut — 2020 has also seen warmly received releases from the likes of Griselda’s Midwestern cousins Freddie Gibbs and Boldy James. But the charts have continued to be dominated by spacey trap and more upbeat pop-rap as hip-hop’s sound has diffused across more and more musical territory from pop to rock to electronic dance music.

Benny might be the key to changing all that, with a secret weapon who has recently begun to have a breakout of his own. Hit-Boy was curiously written off by a lot of audiences because that’s the sort of thing that happens when their initial awareness of you stems from one of the biggest mega-hits of the past decade. Comparing the success of any of HB’s most successful single placements to that of “N****s In Paris” would make it look like a fall off, but if you removed that song from his discography and take a step back, he’s still lived up to his name multiple times over.

Earlier this year, rap fans were reminded just how deep the Fontana, California producer’s big bag of tricks really goes as he executive-produced comeback albums for no less than three huge names across two generations of rap stars. Big Sean’s Detroit 2, Dom Kennedy’s Rap & Roll, and Nas’ King’s Disease were all blessed by Hit-Boy, proving his versatility could only be matched by the austerity he brought to projects from three solid artists who’ve nonetheless been derided for their past efforts. After rescuing Nas from the “terrible ear for beats” critiques and revitalizing Big Sean’s flagging popularity, linking up with Benny must seem like a completely different challenge.

And yet, both artists handle it with flying colors. Benny has often been hailed by Griselda fans as the lyrical leader of the core trio even as Gunn is considered the brains of the operation. He proves why on tracks like “One Way Flight” with Freddie Gibbs and “Timeless,” where he effortlessly trades bars with the much more mainstream Lil Wayne and Big Sean. While he never strays too far from the Griselda formula topic-wise, Hit-Boy brings verve and effervescence to the proceedings, shifting Benny’s usual mode from “dirge-like” to borderline celebratory — a vibe that actually fits the content much better.

When Benny talks about going from $100 stickups to six-figure deals, Hit-Boy makes it sound like a victory, where usually you only get the menace. It’s the first time a Griselda release has mirrored the shift in their condition from underground underdogs to budding major-label stars. This is the sound that Hit-Boy first cultivated nearly a decade ago with Dom Kennedy and Big Sean, rappers who have trafficked in boastful rags-to-financial independence rhymes since early in their careers as they took stock early. Yes, they’re all great rhymers, but the story is what’ll always set great rhymers apart from great artists. And every great story needs great background music.

With Burden Of Proof, Griselda Records finally finds that last element. Now, it’s up to the group to capitalize on the moment. While they’ve proven countless times — literally, I can’t count all their releases over the last five years, let alone their entire 10-year existence — that they can absolutely dominate their lane, they’ll truly flourish when they start to experiment, trying new sounds and pushing the boundaries of what constitutes the “Griselda sound” with an expended palette that can appeal to more than just fans of murky samples and tough talk. Hip-hop is bigger and more diverse than ever and now they have proof that they can be too.

Burden Of Proof is out now via Griselda Records / EMPIRE. Get it here.

Kanye West is making more headlines for his election antics and his war against the recording industry than for his music these days but over the weekend, it seems he was inspired to return to his day job for at least a little while to share some new tunes via his Twitter. The first was “Nah Nah Nah,” a celebratory, freeform single addressing some of his 2020 shenanigans with clever pop culture references, while on Sunday, he teased an upcoming collaboration with DaBaby.

Just 12 hours later, DaBaby had already sent a verse and Kanye was so excited about it, he just had to share it with the world. The 16-second snippet he posted to Twitter found the North Carolina rapper doing his thing over a signature flute loop and driving drums, preemptively reacting to the criticism he knew he was sure to receive for working with perceived pariah Kanye. “Let me get ’em, Ye,” he snarls, “They gon’ hate on a young n**** anyway / They only coppin’ when they havin’ bills to pay / Ain’t nobody asked me how I feel today.”

And hey, he might have a point. In 2020 alone, DaBaby has been yelled at online for accidentally punching a woman who flashed her camera in his face, not switching his flow up, eating a Chik-Fil-a sandwich, and for headlining a post-pandemic concert with no masks, yet I could only find one tweet from anyone asking him how he was all year.

Say what you want about DaBaby crossing the proverbial picket line to work with agent of chaos Kanye, but maybe we could at least check on these artists’ health before berating them for every little thing — even if they do (sometimes) deserve it.

The Tennessee Titans pulled off an improbable comeback win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, erasing a 7-point lead in the final seconds of the game after Houston scored a touchdown with 1:50 to go, and ultimately winning with a touchdown in overtime.

Houston was up one on their final drive and was steadily chewing clock as they marched down the field on a Titans defense that had little in the way of answers. It felt like a game where the team with the ball last would win as the two teams combined for 78 points, and Titans head coach Mike Vrabel seemed to recognize that his biggest enemy was the clock, not the Texans.

As such, with the Texans on the Tennessee 25 and facing a 2nd and 1 situation with 3:30 to play, Vrabel trotted a 12th man out on defense on purpose, knowing he couldn’t afford to let Houston take 40 or more seconds off the clock with a running play and would need his timeouts for a potential game-winning or tying drive. As illustrated in the video below, Vrabel calmly tells his guys to stay out there and then erupts to ensure the flag gets thrown and the clock stops at 3:05, saving them a timeout and also keeping the clock from rolling.

Houston would score shortly after but the Titans had ample time to march down the field themselves and tie the game with four seconds to play — thanks in large part to the Texans failing a two-point conversion attempt to go up 9. In overtime, Tennessee had a 6-play, 82-yard touchdown drive to open the extra period to get the 42-36 win and it was, partially, the product of a savvy and timely penalty taken by Vrabel to save a timeout and stop the clock.

Between Phoebe Bridgers’ first album (2017’s Stranger In The Alps) and her latest (this year’s Punisher), she involved herself in a pair of high-profile collaborative projects. First she linked up with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus to form the Boygenius supergroup and release a self-titled EP in 2018, then she teamed with Conor Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center to release a self-titled album the next year. Bridgers has been more focused on her solo endeavors since then, but over the weekend, she and Oberst had a bit of a Better Oblivion reunion.

Bridgers was one of many artists participating in the virtual Save Our Stages Festival, which was hosted to raise awareness for the need to support small music venues during the pandemic. In the latter half of Bridgers’ set, Oberst first joined Bridgers on the Punisher track “Halloween,” which he co-wrote and sings on. The pair then performed their Better Oblivion single “Dylan Thomas.”

Other artists who participated in Save Our Stages included Brittany Howard, Brothers Osbourne, Dave Matthews, Dillon Francis, Finneas, Foo Fighters, G-Eazy, Gus Dapperton, Jason Mraz, Kelsea Ballerini, Leon Bridges, Macklemore, Major Lazer, Marshmello and Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, The Roots, and YG.

Watch Bridgers’ full performance above.

The Fargo Frozen Five is Uproxx’s weekly collection of thoughts, observations, and goofball screencaps from each new episode the FX limited series’ fourth season. We do not guarantee that there will be five items every week. There could be four, or six, or a dozen. Who knows? This show doesn’t follow the rules. We shouldn’t have to either.

EPISODE 5 — “The Birthplace of Civilization” (or, “Ice Cream Sundaes And Questionable Theology”)

5b. Really just a terrible time for Loy Cannon and anyone associated with him. His oldest son, Limuel, got busted at a jazz bar and got busted in his head by the cops and found himself blabbering nonsense in a jail cell with the rest of the Cannon gang, who all got busted and tossed in the clink, too, this time by Odis Weff, although both turned out to be the doing of Josto Fadda, in his attempts to acquire power without all-out war. Added to this, Loy Cannon got into an ugly argument with his wife over their children and their lifestyle and whether you can get off of a roller coaster before it stops. And on top of it all, his youngest son was being forced to learn long division (under the tutelage of Rabbi Milligan), which might honestly be worse than getting walloped in the head by a nightstick. The only real bright spot for the man was tracking down Zelmare and Swanee and putting them to work for him, which was quickly undercut by the worst news of all…

5a. Rest In Peace to Dr. Doctor Senator, Esquire, the number two in the Cannon organization and the brains of the operation and a man who could give a hell of a speech, on a show filled with characters who can give some good speeches. This bummed me out spectacularly, in part because I really liked the character (I’m a sucker for the calm brilliant criminals) and in part because there are not enough characters on television named Doctor Senator these days (I have always said this). One imagines the events of this episode will be the thing that tips the Cannon/Fadda war from simmering to boiling, between the stuff with the children and the assassination, even if it may not be clear yet that the Cannons will be fighting an organization that’s at war with itself. This brings us to my large furious prince.

4. Gaetano was at it again, in a number of ways, starting with, well, this…

… which was delightful. The biggest surprise in all of it wasn’t that he killed the kid who laughed at him when he wiped out while dancing/sauntering across the street, it’s that he waited as long as he did to kill the kid. And then he and Calamita took out Doctor Senator without Josto’s knowledge, which a) will not go over well with just about anyone, and b) lends credence to what Milligan was saying at the beginning about Gaetano planning to stay and maybe bringing some goons from the old country to build an army. Josto is a doofus, an insecure baby who wants nothing more than to be seen as powerful, but at least he thinks things through. Gaetano just smashes stuff, often with his eyes bulging out of his head and his mustache trying to twirl itself into little points at the end. It’s gonna be a whole thing.

4b. Most of my knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church comes from watching The Young/New Pope, so I could be wrong on the theology of all of this, but I’m fairly certain that Gaetano’s interpretation of Italian Jesus as a murderous John Wick who would have killed everyone in Jerusalem had they not nailed him to the cross is… questionable. I’ll have to flip through the New Testament again. Maybe I missed something.

4a. Perhaps all of this can sort itself out for Josto without violence, though. A couple more ice cream sundaes like this and diabetes might take Gaetano before a bullet gets to him.

3. Happy 17th birthday to Ethelrida Pearl Smutny, student of anthropology and the world, the good kind of troublemaker, and, as she asserted, correctly, one of a kind. Things could have worked out better for her on her big day, as her party was interrupted by an angry Loy Cannon who was there to take her family’s business, and her beloved Aunt and her outlaw partner were taken away, and a U.S. Marshal showed up at her high school to question her, which is rarely a good thing. On the other hand:

• She appears to be writing a letter to Doctor Harvard, in character as a former coworker of Oraetta Mayflower, to spill the dirt on the things she found in the murder closet, including the laudanum, all of which toes a very fun line between devious and righteous
• When Deafy started to question her, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his carrot sticks and offered her one, which was both nice and very weird because, like, you don’t often get offered a carrot stick, you know?
• She got to deliver the line, “Well, I’m here. What’s the rumpus?” which a) is how I’m going to start every conversation I have from now on, and b) marks the second use of the word “rumpus” this season, and yes, I am officially on #RumpusWatch now

Not the best birthday, all things considered, but a few small silver linings. To quote one of our greatest philosophers…

2. A very good week for those of us with conspiracy walls covered with pictures and charts connected by strings of red yarn, especially as it relates to the possibility that the youngest Cannon, the one being raised by the Rabbi in the Fadda household, grows up to be certified badass Mike Milligan from Season 2 of Fargo. The evidence is all circumstantial, of course, but when has anyone on the internet ever needed more than that to fly off the handle? All I have from this episode are: Rabbi Milligan promising to keep the boy safe with a sincerity that stretches into an almost familial level of care; Rabbi Milligan saying of the impending war, “When the shooting starts, we vanish”; and Rabbi Milligan’s last name being Milligan. My working theory is that the Faddas and Cannons wipe each other out and Rabbi Milligan — the twice-traded son who murdered his own father in a double-cross as an act of revenge — becomes the crime king of Kansas City, with the young Cannon changing his name out of respect for the only person who truly cared for him. Or not! Who knows?! Anything can happen on this show. There was an alien attack one time. I’m just throwing stuff against the wall over here.

1. Yes, sure, Josto is getting outflanked and undermined by his large and ill-tempered brother, but say this for the man: He knows how to make an entrance.

President Trump’s last few weeks have been extraordinarily full of bombastic behavior, even by his standards. The COVID-stricken president literally went into a “ROID RAGE” while tweeting on steroids, fired a shot at the Lincoln Project, and shook his butt at a rally. Then he shredded the NIAID director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, by taking a nasty swing at his competence. This happened after Fauci dared to publicly request that Trump remove a campaign ad that quotes him out of context — all for the purpose of making it look like Fauci praised Trump’s (botching of his) pandemic response.

In the aftermath, Fauci has all-but disappeared from public view, but that’s by not his choice. On Sunday night’s edition of CBS’ 60 Minutes, the immunologist revealed that he’s had enough of Trump’s shenanigans. Why did Fauci do so during primetime? As he told Jon LaPook, Trump has put the brakes on his media appearances regarding the White House Coronavirus Task Force. In the above video, Fauci discusses how he wasn’t at all surprised that Trump became infected, and he took off the gloves at the 4:00 minute mark. Here’s his reaction to Trump twisting his words out of context for a campaign commercial: “Quite frankly, I got really ticked off.”

Here’s more of what ticked-off Fauci had to offer about the ad that’s still running in certain battleground states:

“I do not and nor will I ever, publicly endorse any political candidate. And here I am, they’re sticking me right in the middle of a campaign ad. Which I thought was outrageous. I was referring to something entirely different. I was referring to the grueling work of the task force that, ‘God, we were knocking ourselves out seven days a week. I don’t think we could have possibly have done any more than that.’”

Here are Fauci’s actual words that are being taken out of context: “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.” And as Fauci told LaPook of the twisting, it’s “stunning.” Trump also referenced Fauci’s baseball arm while attacking his competence adding several made-up claims about how “Trump was right” and saved millions of lives.

As one can imagine, Fauci’s receiving support on Twitter. And maybe a little bit of fear.

As one of the best-selling and most impactful rappers in music today, Kendrick Lamar has touched many fans’ lives. In some cases, though, that can lead fans to overshare when they meet him in real life, even if they have good intentions. In a conversation with his cousin and budding artist Baby Keem for Vice, the Pulitzer Prize winner warns the younger artist about the one kind of fan interaction that will give him “some real therapy.”

When Keem reveals that he doesn’t “want to do anything the common way,” Kendrick counsels that his “interesting story” will make fans relate to him. When that happens, he says, “There’s no pressure when you arrive at that place.” However, Kendrick warns that once pandemic conditions are over and Keem begins to meet fans in person things may change: “When you do, it’s gonna give you some real therapy because you’ll know how many people you touch.”

“Because of all this shit going on, you’ve not been able to experience a fan walking over to you, telling you, ‘You stopped me from killing myself,’” he advises. “It can be emotionally draining as well as rewarding, that’s part of the game. You’re a voice for a lot of young people, a lot of older people too.”

Keem seems to take his advice in stride, though, citing a “mini-tour” he took before the COVID outbreak that helped him put things in perspective before he really took off this year with placement on XXL‘s Freshman Class cover. “I feel my thing now is to detach myself from the wrong things and attach myself to the right things, things that I should feel,” he says.

Read the full conversation between Kendrick Lamar and Baby Keem here.

Keeping up with the best new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Nicki Minaj and Drake contribute some guest verses and Lana Del Rey teasing her anticipated new album. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

Sada Baby — “Whole Lotta Choppas” Feat. Nicki Minaj

Sada Baby has a viral hit on his hands with “Whole Lotta Choppas,” and he just blew the song up even more by getting Nicki Minaj on a remix. Minaj took the opportunity with her verse to set up a play date between her son and Drake’s, and he happily accepted the invitation.

Benny The Butcher — Burden Of Proof

The Griselda Records crew has been on fire as of late, and now Benny The Butcher joins his label peers with a new record, Burden Of Proof. It doesn’t look like lining up guests was a problem, as he got Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Freddie Gibbs, Big Sean, Westside Gunn, and others.

Yung Bleu — “You’re Mines Still (Remix)” Feat. Drake

Lately, it has felt like Drake has hopped on somebody else’s song every week, and he was back with another last week. This time, it was Yung Bleu who got the honor of a Drake guest appearance, on a remix of “You’re Still Mine.”

Lana Del Rey — “Let Me Love You Like A Woman”

Between her poetry, accompanying audiobook, and guest appearances, Lana Del Rey has been busy in 2020. She also has a new album, Chemtrails Over The Country Club, on the way, and she offered what is likely a preview of it last week, the yearning “Let Me Love You Like A Woman.”

Beabadoobee — Fake It Flowers

Beabadoobee recently spoke with Uproxx about the new album and more, saying of Fake It Flowers, “I felt like I had to write an album just for my mental health even, because I just needed to get things off my chest.”

Matt Berninger — Serpentine Prison

The National leader also chatted with Uproxx about his new release and told us of working with Booker T. Jones, “I wasn’t worrying about any of these songs working together dramatically or anything. I just knew that Booker would be able to make them all feel part of the same family once we got them into the studio. I knew all these songs were children of all these different partners I had written new songs with, and how do I make all of these orphans feel like we’re all part of the same family? That’s a lot of what Booker was able to do.”

Kevin Morby — Sundowner

Morby left Los Angeles for his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas to record his new album, resulting in an outdoorsy-sounding release. As a bonus, Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) has a heavy presence on the record.

Ozuna, Doja Cat, and Sia — “Del Mar”

Ozuna is one of the world’s biggest stars, and he got a pair of other powerful figures to join him on his latest, “Del Mar.” He also dropped a video for the track, which seems him enjoying the sights of an aquatic wonderland.

Sturgill Simpson — Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions

Sturgill Simpson tried to have fun and give his fans a surprise album, but some online listings ruined the surprise, so he just announced Cuttin’ Grass and dropped it a few days later. It’s a departure from the rock of his last album, as it’s full of bluegrass reinterpretations of some of his older material.

Omar Apollo — Apolonio

Omar Apollo has proven himself a genre-spanning rising pop star in recent months, and finally, he has dropped his new album, which includes a Kali Uchis feature. Additionally, he’s also gonna be offering a behind-the-scenes look at his recent Paisley Park performance with the documentary Live From Paisley Park, which premieres later this month.

James Blake — Before

James Blake announced a new EP, and the next day, it had arrived. As opposed to the mostly piano-driven material Blake has offered in recent days, this collection gets back to his more dance-ready influences.

Dorian Electra — My Agenda

Dorian Electra is pop at its weirdest, and now the artist is back with an album that features contributions from an eclectic roster including Village People, Pussy Riot, and Rebecca Black. A co-worker recently described Electra as a pop star version of 100 Gecs, and that’s fitting (they’ve also worked together before).

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.